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Published by Team17.
Introducing Forged Battalion!
Welcome, Commander.
Today we are excited to reveal our partnership with veteran RTS developer, Petroglyph Games, to bring you an innovative new real-time strategy game that puts you in command of your own unique fighting force.
That game is Forged Battalion.
In Forged Battalion you will be tasked with building and customising your own unique faction as they fight in a variety of skirmish, solo, and multiplayer battles. You will not only be a commander, but also an architect of war – with ultimate control over your faction’s units, factories, superweapons and economy.
Immerse yourself in a story driven single player campaign as you forge your army to stop a sinister military force and unite the world. As a Forged Battalion Commander you’ll find yourself at the end of the 21st century, the effects of climate change have devastated the world and a military force called “The Collective” has spread across the globe. As part of the resistance group against this aggressive enemy, it’s time for you to join the fight!
Manage, customise, and develop the blueprints of your emerging faction to create ever-evolving factories and units. Using resources gained in battle, you’ll unlock new options through the metagame tech tree allowing you to choose the archetype, armour, locomotor, weapons, and special abilities such as stealth and regeneration that will make your faction one of a kind. As more technology is unlocked, your designs become more advanced and ultimately, you will have access to the most powerful options, including an array of deadly superweapons to launch against your foes.
Key Features:
Though the Command & Conquer veterans are hugely experienced in the genre, the team at Petroglyph Games want building Forged Battalion to be a truly collaborative process with real-time strategy fans and is anticipating that the game will be in Early Access for approximately six months.
- Forge Your Faction – Modify every unit chassis (Infantry, Light Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle, Aircraft) with a host of weapons, support and locomotor types. Add regenerative armour to your light vehicle, or add an anti-tank gun to your aircraft. Adapt to every situation, and every opponent.
- Persistent Tech tree – Each battle you win, in each mode, contributes towards your faction’s technology upgrades with different science paths; advancing the tech tree unlocks blueprints.
- A dynamic story campaign – The resistance needs you to forge a new force to be reckoned with. Play through an exciting story campaign that will test your ability to react and adapt to the increasing threat of the ‘The Collective’.
- Online multiplayer – Join up to seven other players in a variety of online multiplayer modes for intense tactical co-operative and versus action on dedicated servers.
- Steam Workshop support
Planned Early Access Launch Content:
Forged Battalion will be entering Steam Early Access in early 2018 so keep up with all things
- Five Campaign missions comprising the first act of a multi-act storyline
- Five Skirmish maps supporting up to eight players
- Multiple Skirmish game modes including HQ Destruction and Annihilation
- Dedicated servers to support multiplayer
To keep up to date with all the information on Forged Battalion follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
We’ll see you on the battlefield, Commander.
Forged Battalion: hands-on with a nuts-and-bolts RTS from the Command & Conquer creators
First impressions of Petroglyph's next RTS, coming in 2018.
If Forged Battalion does its job, you should be able to tell a lot about how someone likes to play games based on the armies they create. Do they have a min-maxed RTS army? Are they focusing on swarm units?
Me? I took all the unit mods that sounded fun and named the resulting fodder dumb things like ‘Angry Freddy’ or ‘Dhumpus’.
Such was my time with the Faction Creator—the central hook of Forged Battalion—where players can customise their units to create unique factions, all Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts-style. It feels like a more approachable version of Command & Conquer, which makes sense. Forged Battalion is the newest project from Petroglyph Games, a studio formed by ex-Westwood developers, best known for their work on games like—you guessed it—Command & Conquer. At some as yet indeterminate point in the future, Forged Battalion will release as an Early Access game, but I got some hands-on time with an early build at Petroglyph’s Las Vegas office.
In Forged Battalion, rather than playing with a faction or race designed around a certain set of ideas, players craft their own armies—categorised by infantry, light vehicles, heavy vehicles and aircraft. Each category supports four unit types, and how powerful they are can define your strategy. Your aircraft, for instance, could all use deadly late-game tech, catapulting you to air superiority in the closing minutes of a skirmish. Alternatively, you could stack your barracks full of cheap, low-tier units, and try to catch your opponent off-guard with an early rush.
Unit customisation is limited to weapons, armour, and (in some cases) mobility. So you could make a tank that would be recognisable in a modern-day army base, or a hover tank that fires globs of glue. Petroglyph says that there is a crazy amount of possible army configurations, which reminds me of the way Borderlands’s gun system was first pitched to the media. There are technically more possibilities than stars in the sky, but I suspect a proportion of that value comes from identical armies with one variation. The team plans to let players share configurations, but only if they can figure out a profanity filter that makes sense.
It’s a sci-fi game, set in a “lighthearted post-apocalypse”, so every infantry unit rocks an exoskeleton suit, the aircraft units are drones and the world has gone to the darkly comic dogs. The battle economy focuses on harvester units, which run loops between resource nodes and foundry buildings. You’ll want to build foundries near resources so harvesters can make faster loops, and you’ll need power plants to keep everything running, but building management never goes far beyond those basic points.
Unit options are locked behind a tech tree, which (along with most of the game) was still at a very early stage. Nodes in the tech tree are unlocked through research points earned through battles, even ones you lose, which makes every battle a learning experience. Since we were operating on limited time, the dev team unlocked the whole tree for me, although I found myself splitting the difference between real-world and sci-fi weapons. It’s not like you directly wield any of these tools in an RTS but there’s still something comforting about old-fashioned machine guns and rocket launchers.
I don’t know how battles will actually play out in the full game. I took my new army into two AI matches: one on easy, to get a feel for the game, and one on normal once I had a better grip on combat. In both, the AI tried to rout me on the same thoroughfare, so I responded by forming a wall of early-game units between the road and my base. Call me Patton, because that strategy was unbeatable.
Eventually, I built enough heavy vehicles to crush the enemy base, so I pointed my comically large army in the right direction and let them do what they were born to do. It was a joy to watch my units swarm over the paltry enemy forces. Laser blasts were popping off in every direction—before I knew it, victory was in my grasp. Marring the victory only slightly was the fact that my success was less due to flawless manoeuvring and more the fact that the AI hasn’t been fully programmed yet.
First draft
In the final game, AI that you fight in the one-off skirmishes will be able to pull behaviour data from characters you’ll encounter in the campaign mode. So if you want to relive a fight against a memorable enemy without any of the story trappings, you’re able to create a custom AI match and play against that same character on different maps.
As my time in Vegas winds down, Petroglyph president and cofounder Michael Legg told me the team was nervous about this appointment. They told publishing partners Team17 that Forged Battalion wasn’t ready, and that it needed more time before Petroglyph could show it off to press. I think Legg was correct in his assessment. I don’t think Forged Battalion looks bad, especially for a pre-alpha build, but it’s too early for me to say whether it looks good, either. There’s a gulf of difference between your standard polished vertical slice and what I was shown at the Petroglyph offices, to the point where it’s hard to form any kind of value judgement as a result. Yes, the bones of the Faction Creator are there, but the UI isn’t finished, the last third of the tech tree is missing, and the battles feel more like a proof of concept.
The Faction Creator is still one hell of an idea, though. It’s what makes Forged Battalion unique, theoretically turning the game into an RTS where the moment-to-moment combat hinges entirely on what the player likes doing. Do you want an army full of high-damage glass cannons that you can spawn almost as soon as the game begins? How about some tough early-game infantry that will hold the line until you can start production on the late-game tanks that you’ve chosen to round out the rest of your army? It can be done. The game encourages unorthodox play and out-of-the-box thinking, which is incredibly my thing.
There’s still the question of balance, which is why Forged Battalion will launch in Early Access: so the team can develop alongside their community. “We’ve had situations in the past where players will say, ‘This is an unbeatable combination,’ and then a week later, somebody will go, ‘No it isn’t,’ and prove them wrong,” Forged Battalion senior game designer Patrick Pannulo says. “But in the cases where there is an unbeatable combo, we’ll go in and tweak those upgrades. We have lots of ways to do that: we can push it up a tier so it becomes a late-game upgrade, decrease the damage, change the costs, etc. There’s always a flavour of the month in every game, but sometimes that’s driven by the perception of the players and not by the numbers.”
“I’d definitely second that,” says producer Ted Morris. “[In previous games,] I’ve seen our fans come up with this one-size-fits-all playstyle, but when someone says that…”
“Someone takes that as a challenge!” Legg interjects.
“Yeah, they’ll all work to debunk the other guy,” Morris says.
Westwood's ghost
The entire Petroglyph executive team are expats from Westwood Studios. The team is so committed to its Westwood origins that, when it came time to form Petroglyph, Legg convinced Kroegel to register the old Westwood phone number. “You could take my old business card from 1997 and still call me,” Legg says.
I suspect that long-term dedication to the RTS is what drives Forged Battalion and its unique hook. “People think older developers can get very set in their ways or not trying to advance the genre, but we’re always thinking of ways to get more people to play [RTS games],” Legg says.
If that was the impetus behind Faction Creator, it worked. I want to mess around with that system more. It’s too early to tell how battles will feel in the full game, but Petroglyph has made a strong pitch for the Faction Creator. Any system that gives players room for improvisation should be heartily encouraged, regardless of how the rest of the game might turn out.
Forged Battalion launches on Steam Early Access in 2018.
Grey Goo had a ton of problems, being on the slower side was *not* one of them in itself.Why do people keep mentioning C&C for these guys. Only a few of them made C&C and their latest games have little in common with C&C. Their Grey Goo philosophy was "Slow is fun because gamers that played C&C are now old".. and of course that backfired making Grey Goo a badly sold and played game.
Indeed, it does look like they learned exactly the wrong lessons here...Now they seem to think 8 bit Armies was a hit LOL and seems they are going even crazier with going all generic. And what they are proposing here is going to be super generic. Most units are going to be same, act same and probably differ in little details. Not to mention people are going to find most effective combinations and then most players are going to be playing those.
Most people that complained about GG said it was too slow. As far as factions being asymmetric, they actually were not. Only Goo was, other two were too similar. And they had almost no upgrades and those that were, they were badly implemented.Grey Goo had a ton of problems, being on the slower side was *not* one of them in itself.Why do people keep mentioning C&C for these guys. Only a few of them made C&C and their latest games have little in common with C&C. Their Grey Goo philosophy was "Slow is fun because gamers that played C&C are now old".. and of course that backfired making Grey Goo a badly sold and played game.
There is definitely room for a well done slower RTS that goes in an entirely different direction than SC2 or C&C.
Way, way more room for that than for yet another copy (or attempt at a copy) of StarCraft or C&C.
The variance between the factions was a really good starting point for something interesting and remarkable. It was also the best part of their previous game, Universe At War.
The problem is that they tried to force their own games down the SC2 route, going for the competitive crowd - with a game that just doesn't fit that crowd. Too slow, yes, but also way too asymmetric. I think until the end, a Goo mother rush was never really beatable if you didn't know it was coming.
And then, of course there was the other myriad of problems like units being completely impossible to distinguish from each other at a glance. Or the weird campaign. Or that they did not allow different regions (as in Europa, US West/East, etc.) to play together at start. Absolutely nothing in the sense of cooperative play. A rather bad UI, etc.
The game was dead before it launched. Just a few days ago, I went to their Steam forums - someone was seriously asking why he cannot find any players for Grey Goo or why no more updates are coming. It is kinda sad too see such stupidy as proof of a game's death.
Yeah, they really didn't know what to go for I guess.
Indeed, it does look like they learned exactly the wrong lessons here...Now they seem to think 8 bit Armies was a hit LOL and seems they are going even crazier with going all generic. And what they are proposing here is going to be super generic. Most units are going to be same, act same and probably differ in little details. Not to mention people are going to find most effective combinations and then most players are going to be playing those.
From the trailer I get a C&C4-style "all units die within a nanosecond of encounter start" vibe - not really something I ever cared about.
And from all the texts, they're just going for the competitive crowd again. And will fail again, because that crowd barely exists to begin with. The few people that could be interested in such a game are so demanding that exactly no title in the last 5 years could satisfy them. I honestly don't get why anyone even still tries.
Oh, well. Maybe they will learn in 3-4 games
Well, many complained about the game being slow because those were the only people the game was marketed to. If it was marketed at all. For such an expensive game, I sure as hell did not see any kind of big campaign.Most people that complained about GG said it was too slow. As far as factions being asymmetric, they actually were not. Only Goo was, other two were too similar. And they had almost no upgrades and those that were, they were badly implemented.
The game was made a big better after the free expansion but by then it was too late also for all the reasons you said.
Anyways, I don't believe this new game of theirs can do much but lets see, maybe they surprise us.
Act of Aggression was only RTS that had a good chance to turn out good but those devs ended up as huge fuckups and their money holders fucked them over but making them release too early and not letting them really fix the game.
I just want another Empire at War, is that so much to ask for
Definitely not convinced SciFi is more interesting to people than fantasy.
Maybe all that is needed is a game that doesn't suck for a ton of reasons?
All I see is that these so called C&C developers don't actually understand what made C&C, Red Alert and C&C Generals popular and loved.
Empire at War was stunningly mediocre. Fun but mediocre.
This one?To reply to your question, thesheeep , the most recent RTS I had fun with is Red Dragon, because it's different. It's not a reskin of something else, it was a good idea developed well with some inbuilt issues.
Did you mispell Rebellion? :pI just want another Empire at War, is that so much to ask for
Did you mispell Rebellion? :p
I don't agree with you. I don't think the genre is dead. Someone just needs to make a F2P version that is both fun and polished. So far nobody even tried. If MOBAs cost 30$+ for anyone to try them, it would also be dead (or less popular).I just want another Empire at War, is that so much to ask for
Empire at War was stunningly mediocre. Fun but mediocre. Best Petroglyph game was Universe At War. I understand you like it just because, but as an RTS it wasn't that good (unbalanced units, somewhat shitty factions, cramped and badly designed maps).
Definitely not convinced SciFi is more interesting to people than fantasy.
Maybe all that is needed is a game that doesn't suck for a ton of reasons?
Eh. RTS games are dead: Petroglyph guys (like Eugen) are living in costant denial and keep throwing away money and games in a genre that can't work. Take 8bit armies: I played it when it went F2P, destroyed half a dozen guys, went back to OpenRA because OpenRA was identical with better graphics, better playerbase and better UI. Good job guys failing to beat a bunch of modders.
There's simply no market anymore, even less for "competitive" RTS. Eugen is the other company that still tries to do RTS (sure, there's DoK, but DoK is bad) and their "traditional" (AoA) attempt was blasted into pieces, and Steel Division, despite valiant attempts, was already fucked on the start (Paradox, Western Front 1944) despite being truly interesting from a theoretical point of view.
DoW3 is a mediocre MOBA clone, dead on delivery.
To reply to your question, thesheeep , the most recent RTS I had fun with is Red Dragon, because it's different. It's not a reskin of something else, it was a good idea developed well with some inbuilt issues. Petroglyph should simply stop and consider what they are doing: all I see from the teasers and the press releases is "We're going to copy something from Warzone 2100, Earth 2160 and Impossible Creatures, sum it up with substandard graphics and everything will look muddy, why you don't like us why you don't love us WHY".
'cause the genre is ded, Petroglyph. You can't beat MOBAs on the fast, competitive side. You can beat them on innovation, and with that I don't mean copying 15-years old ideas.
All I see is that these so called C&C developers don't actually understand what made C&C, Red Alert and C&C Generals popular and loved.
Tbh, they understand it well. All their games (bar EaW) are C&C clones deep below. And what made C&C popular was being in the 90ies, mostly. Different age, different playerbase. They don't understand how to make something new or to tap into a good playerbase.
The space battles were extra supercool and I will fight anyone who says otherwise to the death.
Hmm.. unfortunately a setting that I find boring as hell.
I pretty much completely stopped playing anything in a real world war scenario, no matter the genre. I guess I got an overload of that stuff by just watching news and movies
I'd much rather play something like Tooth & Tail - a very interesting entry! And that is furries, FFS!
That's how desperate I am
I don't agree with you. I don't think the genre is dead. Someone just needs to make a F2P version that is both fun and polished. So far nobody even tried.
Petroglyph keep making low budget bad RTS games and Eugene are fuckups that keep pushing their terrible engine into all their games instead of making a good one.
Why would they have Italy? A country that lost all wars it was part of and didn't even accomplish anything of note during them. Their biggest military achievement is being a refueling place for NATO aircraft.Eugen is the only "new" RTS developer that managed to somewhat survive, though. And they are french (THAT EXPLAINS WHY WE GOT YUGOSLAVIA, ISRAEL AND FUCKING FINLAND before Italy as factions).
Which warlords battlecry was best?I just want another Warlords Battlecry.
Will we never be happy again?!
3, no doubt. More races, more classes, more mods, just more of everything.Which warlords battlecry was best?I just want another Warlords Battlecry.
Will we never be happy again?!
Okay, that got me interested. Basic Finnish reflex, every mention of your country in any kind of media in any kind of fashion gets a newspaper article hereEugen is the only "new" RTS developer that managed to somewhat survive, though. And they are french (THAT EXPLAINS WHY WE GOT YUGOSLAVIA, ISRAEL AND FUCKING FINLAND before Italy as factions).
Huh, Red Dragon even has a linux version.
Eh... maybe at a sale.
And I'm not even a Finn - otherwise I wouldn't be writing this but playing frantically already
Why would they have Italy? A country that lost all wars it was part of and didn't even accomplish anything of note during them. Their biggest military achievement is being a refueling place for NATO aircraft.